Initially viewed as a time trial specialist and as a rouleur, he showed his ability in stage races when he came fourth in the 2009 Tour de France; he was later promoted to third after Lance Armstrong's results were annulled in 2012.

He signed with the newly formed Team Sky in 2010, and in 2011 he claimed his first victory in a major stage race in the Critérium du Dauphiné, as well as finishing third, later promoted to second, in the Vuelta a España.

They concluded inter alia that Team Sky had used the powerful banned corticosteroid triamcinolone in 2012 under TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption) "to prepare Bradley Wiggins, and possibly other riders supporting him, for the Tour de France.

[13] He discovered cycling when his mother told him to watch the television coverage of the individual pursuit final of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, which Briton Chris Boardman won.

[33] In October he competed in the track world championships in Berlin, coming fifth in the team pursuit, and with partner Rob Hayles, came tenth in the Madison, securing qualification for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

[51] In the summer he competed in the track world championships in Stuttgart, qualifying fastest in the individual pursuit, before beating Russia's Alexei Markov in the first round, setting up a place in the final against Australia's Luke Roberts.

[37][66] In early 2005, he revealed his desire to compete in road cycling,[67] and in April won the 16 km (9.9 mi) time trial around the town of Briey in northeastern France, on the second stage of the Circuit de Lorraine.

[79] It was seen as a tribute to British rider Tom Simpson, on the 40th anniversary of his death in the 1967 Tour de France, but was a gift to his wife on her birthday, with Wiggins only finding out about the date's significance after the race.

[104] In the semi-final he beat Russia's Alexander Serov, before taking gold in the final against Hayden Roulston of New Zealand, becoming the first rider to defend an Olympic pursuit title successfully.

[117] After finishing in 71st position in the Giro d'Italia and taking second place in the 14.4 km (8.9 mi)-long time trial on the final stage in Rome,[119] he won the Beaumont Trophy, a domestic one-day race in Northumberland, using it as preparation for the Tour de France three weeks later.

[139] In May Wiggins took his first Grand Tour victory on the wet streets of Amsterdam in the opening time trial of the Giro d'Italia, becoming the second Briton to wear the pink jersey after Cavendish in 2009.

[177] On stage nine, Wiggins and teammate Chris Froome attacked on the final climb to finish fourth and fifth respectively, gaining time on Team Katusha rider Joaquim Rodríguez, Michele Scarponi (Lampre–ISD) and other contenders.

[188] He began his 2012 season with third place in the Volta ao Algarve, including victory in the concluding time trial, edging out world champion Martin (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step) by less than a second.

Believing that a puncture resulting from an unfortunate incident should not determine the fate of a competitor, Wiggins then had his teammates and the rest of the peloton slow down to allow Evans and other affected cyclists to catch up.

[253][254] Wiggins rode the Tour of Flanders as a replacement for the injured Ian Stannard, and finished 32nd, one minute 43 seconds behind the winner Fabian Cancellara, having helped Geraint Thomas on his way to eighth.

At the Commonwealth Games in July, Wiggins participated in the 4000m team pursuit with Steven Burke, Ed Clancy and Andy Tennant, managing to win the silver medal.

[261] In September Wiggins rode the Tour of Britain, winning the final 8.8 km (5.5 mi) time trial in London and ending the race in third overall behind the winner, Garmin–Sharp's Dylan van Baarle, and Michał Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step).

[265] Early in the season, Wiggins rode the Tour of Qatar, in which he lost out on contention for the general classification after being caught out by a split in the peloton and then finished third in the race's individual time trial stage behind Cancellara and Niki Terpstra, his first opportunity to wear his rainbow skinsuit.

That career was unusually brief by professional standard; his unexpectedly high finish in 2009 Tour de France led to his high-profile transfer to Team Sky for the following year, and a difficult first season.

[275] Subsequently, he raced with Cavendish in the madison, where they clinched their second world title in the discipline as a pairing using similar tactics to their 2008 win: accumulating points in the sprints in the early stages of the race, before making up a one lap deficit on their French, Colombian and Swiss rivals by working with the Spanish pairing of Sebastián Mora and Albert Torres in a breakaway, taking the lead and holding on for the win despite Cavendish crashing with 11 laps to go.

[286] However, on 28 December 2016 he announced that he was retiring from professional cycling saying "2016 is the end of the road for this chapter, onwards and upwards, 'feet on the ground, head in the clouds' kids from Kilburn don't win Olympic Golds and Tour de Frances!

[288][289][290][291] Dr. Jeroen Swart, the South Africa-based exercise physiologist who oversaw Chris Froome's independent physiological testing, has suggested that the 2012 injection of triamcinolone ahead of Wiggins's historic Tour de France victory may have been administered as a preventive measure, rather than to treat existing symptoms, even though it is not a first-line therapy.

[289][292][293] Whilst the use of banned performance-enhancing substances under TUEs is permitted by the sporting authorities provided the exemption was granted in terms of the WADA rules, questions have been raised about the in-competition use of such drugs.

[295] In December 2016 Sir Dave Brailsford, who ran British Cycling and Team Sky in 2011, informed the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee that the package contained Fluimucil, a brand of legal expectorant, available over-the-counter at chemists in France without a prescription.

[295] Damian Collins MP, the chairman of the select committee, said that the decision was "not an exoneration of anyone", and that "If Sky and British Cycling had kept proper medical records, this could have been wrapped up a lot sooner.

The committee stated that Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman, who had originally failed to record Wiggins's use of medical products, could no longer confirm that the contents of the bag were Fluimucil.

Among other things, the committee looked into doping in cycling, in response to the Fancy Bear hacking into the database of WADA and their publication of Therapeutic Use Exemption certificates (TUEs) issued to Bradley Wiggins in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

In their conclusions, in paragraph 110, they state as follows: From the evidence that has been received by the Committee regarding the use of triamcinolone at Team Sky during the period under investigation, and particularly in 2012, we believe that this powerful corticosteroid was being used to prepare Bradley Wiggins, and possibly other riders supporting him, for the Tour de France.

In this case, and contrary to the testimony of David Brailsford in front of the Committee, we believe that drugs were being used by Team Sky, within the WADA rules, to enhance the performance of riders, and not just to treat medical need.

[353] The series received over a million downloads, and the show was renewed for a 20-episode run the following year, featuring discussion of the spring classics, Grand Tours and Road World Championships.